Charles i



(No Model.)

0. D. SAWYER. Gate Closer.

No. 231,107. Patented Aug. 10,1880.

. ELL. LQm

WITNESSES INVENTOR 1 {ATTORNEY NZPE'rERs. PHOTO-LITHDGRAPHER, wnsnmuron. n c.

.UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES D. SAWYER, OF VINOENNES, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF OF HIS RIGHT TO JOHN K. CASE, OF SAME PLACE.

GATE-CLOSER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 231,107, dated August 10, 1880.

Application filed May 20, 1880.

(N model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES D. SAWYER, of Vincennes,in the county of Knox and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Gate-(310s ers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawing,

making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

The drawing is a representation of a side elevation of my automatic gate-closer.

My invention relates to an automatic gatecloser.

It consists in a spring-wire secured at one end to a gate and provided at its other end with a weight, the said wire being guided by an eyebolt, or its equivalent, secured to the hinge-post, as hereinafter set forth and claimed.

Heretofore a rope and weight have been employed for closing doors and gates.

Instead of a rope, I employ spring-wire.

This involves several advantages over a rope or cord. WVhen the gate is suddenly opened the stifiness of the wire prevents the weight from swinging in front of the gate, as will generally occur when rope is used. The wire being spring-wire, will, when the gateis thrown wide open, have sufficient resiliency to bring the gate round the moment the gate. is left free, thus always insuring the closing of the gate and serving as a valuable auxiliary to the weight, which maybe made much smaller than where a rope or cord is used. Also, the wire does not rot, and it will not wear and become ragged, like a rope, so as to catch in the eyebolt on the latch-post.

In the drawing, A designates an ordinary gate. B represents the latch-post, and O the hinge-post, all constructed in any ordinary manner.

D designates the spring-wire, one end of 5 which is secured to the gate and its other end provided with a weight, E. The wire passes through the eye of an eyebolt, F, which conunnecessary in sash-balances, while it is esstitutes a guide for the wire. This eyeholt is secured to the hinge-post a little below the level of the top rail of the gate. Other forms of guides may, however, be used and connected to the hinge-post-as, for instance, I may connect a glass eye therewith in any suitable way.

WVhen the gate is opened the wire will be bent in the direction of a spiral line, thus adding to the efficiency of the spring.

I am aware that metal bands or straps have been used to operate the sashes in sashbalances; but in such cases the bands are flat, and either run over pulleys or are coiled within a case. In these instances there can be no spiral twist given to the flat band to cause it to operate, as does my spring-wire, to close the gate when wide open by the resiliency of the spring, which at such time is in a measure independent of the weight, the

- weight serving at such time to hold the twist in the spring. As soon as the wire begins to untwist by the swinging 0f the gate the weight begins to descend, and continues to descend until the gate is closed. Neither the rope nor the fiat metallic bands can operate in this way. Besides, such an operation is 7 sentially necessary in gates and doors. 5

\Vhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- As an improvement in gate-sprin gs, the spring-wire D, provided with the weight E at one end, passed through the eyeFin the hingepost 0, and secured to the top rail ofthe gate A at the other end, and adapted to automatically close the gate, partly by the resiliency of the wire spring itself and partly by the weight E attached to said spring, as herein set forth.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES DELANEY SAWYER.

Witnesses:

WILL O. JOHNSON, JOHN W. BREWER. 

